July 26, 2023 · 9:12 am

Forgiveness Is at the Heart of Repentance

(from Journal,  5-11-15)

Repentance is the first step on the path of righteousness. “Unless you repent you shall all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:5). Repentance is a grave concept, not to be misunderstood. A seeker of God must not get this wrong.

Nevertheless, the way to repentance is guided by the warm arms of forgiveness. For had not Christ forgiven us all, we would never be able to come to the altar of repentance from our sins.

Many believe that past sins are forgiven them by God, but they don’t believe that the sin nature within them—the old nature that produced the sin—is gone away for good. And therein lies the problem—the recurrence of sin in a person’s life. Why does sin keep cropping up? It is because of unbelief that our old sinful self has died with Christ on the cross. Through this unbelief, the old heart will still produce sin, the breaking of the Ten Commandments.

Sins Sent Away

The word “forgiveness” is translated from the Greek word aphiemi, a verb which means “to send away or depart.” Christ has sent our sins away.

We see this in the types and shadows of the old Mosaic law. One remembers how the Aaronic priest laid his hands on the scapegoat, transferring the people’s sins onto the goat. And then the goat was sent away into the wilderness, taking their sins with it. The scapegoat was a type of the Lamb of God “who takes away the sins of the world.” Christ had the heavy responsibility of being that Sacrifice. Christ took upon Himself all the sins of humanity. Shockingly for some, He died as a lost man that day; I say, in the similitude of a lost man. “For He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

He was our scapegoat offering. He has forgiven us in that He has sent our old selfish heart away. He is saying to us, Thy sins are forgiven. Your sins are sent away; they are departed and gone. They are no longer there. “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).   

Forgiving the Debt

The Greek word translated “repentance” has another nuance of meaning. It means to “to forgive a debt.” When we owe someone money, for example, we have a debt until either it is paid or until the debt is forgiven. When forgiven, the debt is gone, poof! It is no longer a reality; it no longer exists.  

It is the same with the old heart that sins. That person has a debt to love his fellow man, for God has said, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8 NIV). That is our debt: to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And yet, sin is the opposite of love, and it resides in unregenerated man. These are those that Christ has commanded us to love. We are to love the unlovable, those who have hurt us. We love them by forgiving them. This is how our debt is paid.

But our debt can never be paid by trying to do good works in our own strength. Yahweh takes away our sin through the sacrifice of His Son. We can repent through His grace to us.  This happens when we identify our sinful nature with Christ. Then the sin dies with Christ, and by belief/faith in His resurrection in us, we now walk in a “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

Once this revelation sinks in, then we can say as Paul did that it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me (Gal 2:20). We need only read and believe Romans 6:1-15 and not question it.

When we do this, the sin will depart forever. The debt is paid. Our sins are forgiven. For good. All gone. Departed. Christ is big enough to make this happen. No more sin in our lives. It is a wondrous thing. This is His doctrine, and it is astonishing!

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 23, 2023 · 10:33 am

Repentance from Sin–How to Be Freed from Sinning

“He that is dead is freed from sin…” (Rom. 6:7) [from Journal 4-23-15]

We’ve been digging into the heavier concepts lately—things like “healings, casting out unclean spirits, power, and authority.” These studies are a glimpse of our destiny. They are waymarks of our spiritual growth. But before these come mightily into and through our lives, we must make our calling and election sure by shoring up the “first principles of the doctrine of Christ.” Therefore, I thought it expedient to review the foundational first works that Christ preached before we get ahead of our skis.

The first words that Christ spoke as He came into a village was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And then He would say, “Have faith in God.” These are the first two teachings of “the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42; Heb. 6:1-2). Christians coming into His body must first repent of their sins. But they have been taught a watered-down conception of what “repentance” means. They say that feeling sorry for your sins is repentance. Not so. The same thing has happened to the word “sin.”

The false teachers say that you cannot live without sinning. But the scriptures say, “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin…” (I John 3:9).

Concerning the Sin Question

But someone will ask, “How then do I live without sinning? I’ve been told that I can’t, that I’ll always sin. That’s what they’ve told me.” Confusion abounds about the sin question, so not many people discuss it, much less preach it.

Christians have been taught to call every shortcoming that we have as sin. But “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). Which law? The Ten Commandments.

It is a spiritual law. These commandments deal with heavy, dark actions of the heart. They are given to show man what sin is. We are talking about murder, stealing, adultery, coveting, having other gods before the God of Moses, and others. These Ten Commandments were not made for a righteous man, but for the sinner. Let the apostle expound on this: “We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine” (I Tim. 1:9-10).

Nevertheless, many people say that eating too much is a sin, that impatience is a sin, that drinking a glass of wine is a sin, that losing your temper is a sin, that shuffling your feet on a sawdust floor is a sin. These are faults perhaps, but not sins. There is a big difference in the gravity of the offenses. It is like comparing a third degree misdemeanor with a first degree felony.

Considering this, we need to examine ourselves and ask, “Do I steal? Do I lie? Do I commit adultery? Do I hate and murder people or want to kill someone for selfish reasons? Go down the list of the Ten Commandments. Now think again about faults and shortcomings that you have.  Do you see the difference?

Sins are weighty things that make up this spiritual law. It is a law that natural man cannot keep on his own strength and merit. The sinner’s ineptness thereby is revealed. But the Spirit has shown us the way.

The New Heart

The Ten Commandment law can only be kept by God’s Spirit residing in the new heart of a Christian. And many of us have had the Spirit come down in a new life-giving way. And in God’s eyes, we are His sinless children. And He watches over us, and He cares for us and helps us when we neither know how to go in or come out. In other words, He looks on the heart and judges after the new heart that He has given us. He knows that we are immature and need the milk of the word so that we can grow up to be like Him and His apostles and prophets. We have faults and shortcomings, but we have been changed at our core.

And, perhaps, some sincere followers of Christ are still in sin. I am not their judge. I am not anyone’s judge. However, I am content to share the light that He has given me over these past 50 years.

The unregenerated human heart is a sinful one–lies, adultery, thefts, idolatry, coveting your neighbor’s possessions. But the new heart from God at our new birth from above is an astonishing miracle done by the invisible hands of our Savior. It is an amazing spiritual heart transplant. And we need to be able to explain how this happens.

His will is for us to grow to be like Him and His apostles. To do this we must know and do the foundational principles of Christ’s doctrine. We have a need to be rooted in the first works of repentance and faith before we go on to deeper doctrines. They go hand in hand and form the very matrix for the other teachings to grow.

Without faith, you cannot please God (Heb. 11:6). Why? Because God is an invisible Spirit. We cannot see Him, but we can see the effects of His presence within a person. We cannot see Him, but we take notice and are astonished when we see a man transformed by this Pneuma/Spirit we call God. He is the man who used to be a soldier who cursed worse than a sailor. He was an adulterer, a druggie, and a thief but was changed into a praise giving grateful follower of this invisible God.

I used to be that sinner. But I had a mentor that explained to me how to repent from sin by taking my old selfish sinful self to the cross and letting it die with Christ, and being buried with Him, and by faith in His resurrection, be raised to walk in a newness of life (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12).

You have read Romans 6:1-12. Read it again. “Knowing this that our old self is crucified with Christ.” We have been baptized into His death. When Christ died, sin died. When we die with Him—over and done with—our old sin nature dies with Him. That is repentance from sin.

Having faith in His resurrection is believing in our own resurrection. “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me…by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). That is repentance from sin and faith toward God. These two concepts must be rock solid in our hearts before the Spirit takes us into deeper living waters.

It all boils down to believing in Christ’s resurrection—not just His own personal resurrection, but our being raised to walk in a newness of life, too. He has faith in His own power and plan. He is waiting patiently until we all have this truth firmly in our hearts.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

For much more on this check out these articles:

Repentance from Sin and Faults–But What’s the Difference? | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

Christ Says, “Repent!” Repent from What? “Sin.” How Do I Do That? | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

[My books go into to these things much deeper. Send for a free copy with free shipping.  Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

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July 18, 2023 · 11:57 am

God’s Sovereignty in Hardening Hearts and Casting Out Unclean Spirits

(from Journal, 3-18-19)

As His sons and daughters, we will see an unclean spirit in someone who needs deliverance. But before trying to help them, we first must have wisdom and knowledge from above. We must understand that they are spiritually afflicted by Satan and his minions.

This is major league stuff. Those evil spirits are fallen angels that we are dealing with. We must have understanding–which is “knowledge of the holy” about who these spirits are. They are ministering spirits for us, the heirs of salvation. Are not all angels our servants (Heb. 1:14)? All. The evil spirits in this case are providing an opportunity for us to show forth the power of God–in His timing—that He might be glorified in the showing of His mighty power to heal. We better know what we are doing before attempting to cast out an evil spirit. Remember in Acts when the spirit jumped on the unprepared follower?

At first glance, we might think that this is a bit outlandish for God to do this–that He would allow affliction—on saints and sinners alike. But we need to reflect upon pharaoh’s experience with Yahweh. He was the king of Egypt, and he was used by God to make a name for Himself. God hardened pharaoh’s heart against God’s very own will, but for a master purpose. God sent an evil spirit into pharaoh to block the children of Israel from escaping bondage.

It was God who hardened his heart. But this provided the ultimate backdrop to showcase God’s mighty miracle working hand in delivering Israel from slavery. We must remember this: God caused many Egyptians to perish: Egypt’s first born, the Chariots lost in the Red Sea, the victims of the plagues, and others. It was all part of His plan to reveal Himself to His creation.

Yahweh is sovereign, and all of us humans—past, present, and future—are His creation. He can and will use us in any way that He chooses to fulfill His will, plan, and purpose. We all need to get over ourselves with all this battling God for the preeminence in this life. We humans were created for His pleasure, not ours. We think that we have a say in our lives, but we really do not in the end. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh” (Prov. 16:33).

“For the scripture says to pharaoh,’ for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth’ (Rom. 9:17; Ex. 9:16). Things in God’s plan are not open to those who by their own strength and sheer will, endeavor to please God. Nor is it to those who run for the prize of pleasing God. But it falls upon those whom he has chosen to show mercy to” (Rom. 9:16).

The point is that He uses whomever He wants to use for His purposes. And if He chooses to harden a heart to further His purpose of making sons and daughters, He will do it! Just like he did with pharaoh. This should strike fear and awe of a God who would do this to accomplish His purposes. We should not be surprised. We do the same thing. You plant a garden, and then you harvest it. You decide whether to eat the vegetables or can them or sell them or give them away. You call the shots concerning your garden. God calls the shots concerning His Garden.

But most human beings either think they are in control, or they give up and become driftwood, floating aimlessly, tossed upon the waves of fate, without knowledge of the tree from whence they came. Still God has a purpose and plan. He will still use His power to cast out evil spirits and heal whomever He desires. And in this epoch, He said that He will use you and me. Praise Yah! HalleluYah! kwh

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 15, 2023 · 9:47 am

Faith and the Power to Heal

[From Journal entry, 3-17-19]

Christ desires us to walk in the same power to heal that He and His apostles walked in. That is our high calling. He wants us to spiritually grow to the point that the power of the Spirit is not only present, but also active as a miraculous life force.

This power went out of Christ into the woman stricken with a blood disease. He was walking in 100-fold power and did not need to raise His voice and shout, “Be healed!” The woman believed, and her faith in the Savior’s nature and authority pulled the power to heal her out of Him.

So, what were the major elements in this demonstration of his power toward the woman? At that moment in time, her belief matched the Savior’s. For we know that He fully believed in His own power and ability. For His power was like igniting dynamite. In fact, the Greek word for power here is dynamis (Greek 1411).

The match that ignited the power was the woman’s faith (belief) that Christ could and would heal her. There were many who touched the Savior in the press of the crowd. But she was the only one who was healed. “For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”

“He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Several times Christ would ask the person if they believed that He could heal them. In fact, He cleared the area of all unbelief before He could heal anyone. “And He could not do many mighty works because of their unbelief” in Nazareth. “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country” (Mark 5:24-43; 6:4-5). The people who knew you when will only see you after the flesh, judging you through their memories of you before your conversion to Christ. They will not believe that God is in you doing the healing.

Consequently, belief is the main ingredient. Secondly, the disciple must have authority and compassion. “He was moved with compassion. And healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14; Matt. 9: 36; Mark 6: 34).

The unbelief must be expelled before God heals. Christ always cast the evil spirits out before he started healing. Perhaps when He got rid of the unbelieving doubters, he was casting away the evil spirits–like when He only took three disciples to the raising up of Jairus’ daughter.

All this notwithstanding, where is the source of this power to heal? It comes from  Yahweh. All things are of Him. How do we grow to the point where He would use us in this manner?

He has placed in our hearts this desire to help others, to heal their wounds and their suffering. We have the desire. You and me. And I write this “not that I have already obtained [the power to heal at will] or have already become perfect, but I press on…” (Phil. 3:12).

Healing is one of the gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:7-11). It is an action of the Spirit of Yah streaming out through us. He has promised His sons and daughters that He would use them to heal. We are but channels of His power.

But first, we must acquire knowledge about His power and how and why He uses it at certain times of His choosing. We must know this: “There is a time for every purpose under heaven.” There is “a time to heal” (Ecc. 3:1-3). We will know the time; He will show us. That is why I am not running all over the country right now trying to sincerely heal people. Healings will come in God’s good time.

We must remember the prophets and patriarchs. Moses tended flocks for forty years waiting for his destiny to deliver His people. He was eighty at the burning bush. His time had come after much patience/endurance. Same for Joseph. He suffered for many years in Pharoah’s prison until the time was ripe. Then Yah enabled him to interpret the king’s dreams. He endured, knowing that “he who waits on Yahweh shall renew their strength.”

So, let us dig deep and prepare ourselves for that glorious day of healings and miracles. Let us wait upon Him, and let us learn together from our Teacher, the Spirit of Truth.

Please share a comment as the Spirit of Truth reveals things to you. I would love to hear from you.

Finally, it is not to say that our Father the Healer has not already touched our lives many times. We have been talking about where few ever go in their growth, the few who like eagles soar to the heights of the 100-fold growth that Peter, John, and Paul experienced.

We must prepare ourselves against that day when He flows through us like He did with His apostles. On the day that the power arrives, there will be a throng around us, with crowds of people pressing upon us, clamoring to be healed. There will be viral videos as these miracles are performed by our hands. Perhaps even a sick woman in the crowd will say, “If I could just touch their garments, I would be healed.”

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 12, 2023 · 11:53 am

How Christ Abides in Us

(from journal entry, 11-8-14)

Seekers of God must believe that God wants them to grow. If they do not believe that, they will remain immature in the body of Christ, spiritually floundering like children being tossed like leaves on a windy winter’s night. Yahshua has lined out how to grow in a series of commandments. Christ commands us: “Abide in Me and I in you” and “Add to your faith” seven attributes of His divine nature.

[These and other commandments are explored in my book The Eleventh Commandment; it isfree with free shipping to all who ask: Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)] [John 15:4-6; II Peter 1:1-11.  Also, I have just published online my latest book, The Additions to the Faith, found here: The Additions to the Faith | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)]. The additions are seven attributes of Christ’s “divine nature” that is possible for us all to accomplish. If Peter, Paul, and John can do it, we can, too.]

Some of you may be thinking, Wayne, here you go again with “how to become like Christ.” Some may not even believe that it is possible. Well, I would be remiss if I did not remind you again. It is my job. Teachers are His gifts to the church, His body. They are for “the perfecting [the maturing] of the saints…and the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come to the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect/mature man” unto the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13). We are to grow “unto the fulness of Christ.”

This is the abiding of His heart and Spirit. The abiding of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” comes after the knowledge and then the doing of the seventh addition, which is Agape/Love.

It is one thing to recognize a command, but it is another to find out how to obey it. The point: First, we abide/remain/continue in Christ by believing His words concerning His promised presence within the Spirit of truth. Christ said that He is the vine, and we are the branches. When we abide or remain in Him, then we will “bring forth much fruit.”

This corresponds to the additions to the faith. When all seven are added, we will never be “barren nor unfruitful.” “Nor unfruitful” means “full of fruit.” “Full of fruit” means “much fruit.” And these additions will help us to make “our calling and election sure” (II Peter 1:4-10). When tied together, “the abiding” and the “additions” help us to be fruitful. If we abide in Him, then we bring forth “much fruit.”

The abiding is the sustained presence of the Spirit within us. This happens because of the seven additions, the seven qualities or attributes of the Spirit, leading to the seventh—agape love.

But how is all this done? How do we abide in Christ and He in us? How do we add to our faith? What is the formula, the steps, the way to do it?

Christlike Prayer

We abide in Christ and He in us through prayer. It is about the content of our communications with God. But it is not any old prayer. It must be like Christ’s prayers. It must not be asking Him and commanding Him for things for self. Prayer is worship, and “they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

So, the words that we speak to Him must be in accordance with what is important to God. Our prayers must agree with how Christ prayed and what he prayed for. We see this in the model prayer, called the Lord’s Prayer, given to His disciples when they asked him how to pray [page 28-60 in The Eleventh Commandment].

I remember back when I was teaching English, I was looking to glean some Nuggets for my high school juniors who desperately needed help in interpersonal relations. Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People, gave us this point: “Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.” You will not only get their attention, but you will get them to like you and sincerely win their friendship.

Let us extrapolate. What if we talked to God in terms of His interests? What if we talked to Him about the things that He is interested in. Would that not be better communication? Would we get his ear by discussing with Him His plan and what He is interested in? Do you think that He listens to self-centered prayers like “Bless us, dear Lord. Help me get this new job”? I doubt it. If we talked to Him about His plan and purpose and asked Him to learn more of His ways, do you think He would turn a deaf ear to you?

After all, Christ said, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” We must ask Him, not tell Him what to do. It is He that gives the commands. If we are abiding/continuing/remaining in Christ’s words of His plan, praying, and communicating in accordance with His will—then when we ask Him for more of His Spirit, He will abide in us.

Where do we find a description of what God is interested in? It is found in the words of the Savior, the prophets, and the apostles. Their words show us that God is interested in His Kingdom and his way of right living. He thinks about His Kingdom.

Why not talk to him about His Kingdom? After all, Christ did say, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We could ask Him about how He will govern the sheep and the goat nations (Matt. 25:31-46). Our Father would surely take notice of us; we would gain His ear, for not too many ask Him about His governance over the nations.

When we think His thoughts, we are abiding and remaining in Him. As we abide in Christ, we continue in the things He taught. We think and act on the thoughts of His mind. The world system pulls us away from His thoughts. If we could think His thoughts exactly like He thinks, then we would be abiding in Him. We would literally have “the mind of Christ.” The apostle Paul admonishes us, “Let this mind be in you.”

And how do we attain His thoughts? Through knowledge emanating from His mind, explained by His teachers. And how do we sustain His thoughts to the point that our mind is full of his thinking? Through prayer and study of his plan and purpose.

Praying the way He wants us to is the rudder that steers our minds back onto the charted course and on toward the city of the living God, the New Jerusalem, and to countless angels, and to our fellow brethren and to God our Savior Yahshua.

Abiding in Him

Loving Christ comes from the gratefulness that we feel toward Him for our deliverance from sin. “We love Him because He first loved us and gave Himself for us…” And now, because we love Him, we will keep his words to us. “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14: 23).

We see here a progression: Initial gratefulness grows into loving Christ. Because we love Him, we will value and obey His words. And then He promises to come into our hearts with a lasting relationship. He promises to abide/continue/remain in us, thus, fulfilling His sentiment: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

And one of his words to us is “pray.” Christ talks about its necessity in scores of passages. So do His apostles. It must be extremely important. In fact, prayer is of the essence. Praying according to his plan and purpose keeps us abiding in Him. And in so doing, it makes us bear much spiritual fruit, which in turn fulfils our Father’s plan and purpose of reproducing Himself in us.

He said that if we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us (John 15:7). That is the power that He wants us to wield. Abiding in Him yields much spiritual fruit in and through us. This would include the fruit of the Spirit, which is  “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5: 22 ).

Spiritual Growth  Abiding in Him and He in us insures spiritual growth for us. There is a growth; just look at Peter and Paul before and after the resurrection. Again—if they can grow into spiritual powerhouses, then we can, too. We just need to study and incorporate their teachings. And the teachings of Christ and His apostles speak of The Abiding.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 6, 2023 · 9:34 am

Pouring Out the Spirit of Mercy and the Spirit of Wrath

In the dream, the Voice coming through my mouth shouted, “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh! UPON ALL FLESH! Through study, I discovered that the Spirit at Pentecost was not poured out on “all flesh” present that day in Jerusalem. It was only poured out on His servants and handmaidens in the upper room, the disciples of that era. Here the scene is painted (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21).

Both renditions contain two different and distinct visions of how the Spirit will be poured out. In Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:17-18 we see the blessed outpouring on His servants. Reading on in the very next verses, we see another kind of outpouring. Yahweh says, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD [Yahweh] come” (Joel 2:30-31).

That day will not be a nice day for many. In both prophetic passages, there are two vastly different outpourings. The first section reveals the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will take place during the “time of the end.” The second part of that prophetical flow reveals a pouring out of natural disasters and “acts of God,” a day of gloom and horror (Joel 2: 30- 31). This day is when Yahweh has His angels pour out the vials of wrath. This shows us that both the latter day pouring forth of the Spirit and the pouring out of the vials of wrath happen at basically the same time in history—our time. The Upper Room pouring out of the Spirit was a type and shadow of what will take place on the earth at the beginning of “the time of the end” (Dan. 12:1). We are living in that time.

Christ warns us of that time (Matthew 24:15, 21- 22, 29). The pouring out of His Spirit that brings power from on high happens first. But not every human being will be so blessed.

But Joel, right after the first outpouring of His Spirit, speaks of a universal scourge. Christ calls it the pouring forth of the vials of wrath. How ghastly that will be for all the inhabitants of the earth. For all will see the sun “turned to darkness before the great and terrible day of the LORD  come.”

Some will say that the outpouring can only mean the baptism of the Holy Spirit like on the day of Pentecost. However, the scriptures are very clear that “all things are of God” (2 Cor. 5:18). And because “God is a Spirit,” then “all things are of the Spirit” (John 4:24). Even the pouring forth of the wrath of God upon all flesh [except those spared for the elect’s sake]. Yes, the elect, the sons and daughters of God will be on earth during tribulation. It will be horrible. The righteous will “scarcely be saved.” But, “for the elect’s sake” Yahweh will cut the time of the miseries short.

He says, “Pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” The first vial of wrath caused a “noisome and grievous sore upon” those who had taken the mark of the beast. The second vial fell into the sea, “and it became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea.” The third vial was poured on the rivers and they became as blood. The fourth vial was on the sun, increasing the heat to the scorching of men. The fifth was poured on the throne of the beast; it was plunged into darkness and pain and misery. And still they would not repent. The sixth vial hit the Euphrates River and dried it up. This enabled the “kings of the east to be prepared” to come down to Jerusalem. Then there was “a great earthquake…and every island fled away, and the the mountains were not found” (Rev. 16:20). This is utter and complete destruction of the world system.

This is a thumb nail sketch of the Great Tribulation seen in the pouring out of the vials of wrath of God.

After all seven vials are poured out, “a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne [said], It is done” (Rev. 16:1-17). This pouring out of God’s wrath is heavy stuff. It is the destruction of the world system, including the Battle of Armageddon (v. 16). This is major end time misery for mankind and runs parallel with the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His chosen ones.

There is a type of this destruction in the scriptures. Abraham implored Yahweh to spare the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, “if there be 50 righteous men” in the city. His heart was heavy; he was interceding for the people, hoping that God would spare the city. When we feel that gravity and heaviness in our spirit, then our hearts will turn to Him in our leaden state, and we will intercede for the masses of humanity all over the world who will fall in the hellish destruction of the world.

The hearts of the elect will feel this heaviness and they will grieve with their Father and plead for His mercy in sparing the peoples of the world. And they will thank Him for sparing them and their families while they continue to seek God on the matter.

The Former and Latter Rains

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost partially fulfilled the prophecy spoken by Joel and it was confirmed by the apostle Peter. We have seen that the Spirit was poured on “all flesh” that were prepared for this happening. It did not fall on everyone in Jerusalem that day.

This partial outpouring of the Spirit has been called the “former rain.” The Hebrew word translated “former rain” means “teacher of righteousness.” The Spirit moved them to teach this gospel throughout the Mediterranean world. Christ did promise us that the Spirit “shall be in you” (John 14: 17). He also promised that the Holy Spirit “shall teach you all things…” (John 14: 26). Furthermore, the Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (John 16: 13).

The Holy Spirit, teaching righteousness through the apostles, was that former rain. This has gone on for the past 2000 years. You and I know Christ because of the early apostles’ work. The beauty of this event is captured in the poetry of Hosea:

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know Yahweh: His going forth is prepared as the morning;        And He shall come unto us as the rain, As the latter and the former rain unto the earth” (6:3).

He shall come to us as the former rain, as the teachings of righteousness. He is pouring His Spirit over our minds and hearts, and it will teach us and prepare us for the latter rain. The latter rain will fall on us at or near the “time of the end.” It will fall upon those who are prepared to bear 100-fold spiritual growth (Matt. 13:3-9; 18-23).

For the righteousness shared by the “former rain” apostles will engender growth in us to be sustained in these latter days. For they spoke of our time, the time when our exiled King returns to this earth to establish righteousness and peace and judgment in the earth. Brothers and sisters, that’s what we’re working for. We do not believe anything into existence. We just believe what Christ believes.

The latter rain will fall through the teaching of apostles and prophets that God is raising up. They will teach righteousness and the truth about our King. They will raise up many princes and princesses and Yahweh will wipe the slate of the earth clean. It is all there in the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, our King.

This shows that God pours from His mind His plan according to the record in heaven. He pours forth out of his Spirit, what we would call the “good” and the “bad.” We need only think about Pentecost and, conversely, Him pouring out the vials of wrath. Yahweh spoke in the dream: “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. UPON ALL FLESH!” We see that these words are not only precious promises of personal spiritual growth, but also a dire warning of His displeasure and a subsequent cleansing of evil from the earth. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 4, 2023 · 10:32 am

Pouring Out His Spirit on All Flesh–A Dream

[From Journal entry, 9-18-2020]

“I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh.” Last night God gave me this word in a dream. As I lay in bed praying, waiting to fall asleep, I asked Him, “Please, Father, will you give me a word from You, a dream from you?”

I went on to sleep, and then this voice found its way into me, and I began to be its vocal cords. And it resounded, and the voice blasted these words: “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. UPON ALL FLESH!!” It was hair-raising from neck to lower back. The voice seemed like it was loud enough to rattle the windows.

That is when my wife Linda shook me and said, “Wake up! You are dreaming!” She said that I had bolted upright in bed and was shouting unintelligible words.

And as I woke up, I knew that the voice was not my voice that came through my mouth. I did not originate the voice or the volume. It was not my will or desire that it spoke using my vocal cords.

I got up out of bed. It was 2:00 o’clock in the morning. I stumbled to my desk, turned on the lamp, and penned these very words into my journal. I did not want to forget any of this experience.

I wanted to share it immediately, but I was not ready to make sense of it. It was unsettling and unnerving. It was not the joyous upper room experience. It had a blanket of dread draped over the words. It was ominous and foreboding. I knew that there was much more to it, but I would have to wait on Him to help me understand its profundity.

Consequently, I put the experience on the back burner to let it simmer for a while. Other work kept me busy. I was in the middle of writing my fifth book, The Eleventh Commandment, at the time.  And then the sixth came, The Additions to the Faith, which I have just published online on Immortality Road [The Additions to the Faith | Immortality Road (wordpress.com).

These books have an uncanny connection to the dream. They show us how to grow into “mighty men and women of valor,” to borrow Gideon’s heavenly accolade. These books are primers, teaching us His Law of Harvest and showing us how to grow to be His apostles, prophets, and teachers. They prepare us for the “time of the end,” the great catastrophe, and the cataclysm coming to this earth just before Christ returns.

Making Sense of the Dream

But what does this dream-message mean? “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” My first thought was that joyous time at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and filled the disciples. It was a time of great joy. Peter is quoting the prophet Joel 2:28. We have read it and marveled at the scene of Christ’s disciples receiving power, as found in Acts 2:17: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, sayeth God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

Peter spoke of the Holy Spirit being received, changing lives, and turning many to Christ through the apostles’ spiritual exploits. It was glorious stuff that we would all like to experience. Speaking in a language that you have never heard before! Having a voice taking over your tongue and vocal cords, witnessing God’s glory to strangers in their own language! “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance” (2: 4).

And so, I went to Joel 2:28 to see the words Peter was quoting. “And it shall come to pass afterward, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh…” Wait a minute. Before God pours the Holy Spirit out like that at Pentecost for our day, His word says, “And it shall come to pass afterward…” After what, exactly? It is a moment of putting things in perspective and in context. The passage in Joel that Peter quoted says that things will be happening before the Pentecost experience and the obtaining of 100-fold power through the pouring out of His Spirit.  

In our study of His words, especially prophetic words, we must widen our myopic lenses to see things big-picture, and not be quasi-blind, “unable to see afar off.”

We are keying in on what is to take place before our upper room experience. The Spirit through Joel shows us the state of the earth and its corrupt world system at the time of the end. And then we see a massive divine intervention—different pouring out—this time of His wrath. [To be continued in Part Two] Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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June 30, 2023 · 9:56 am

Forgetting, Reaching Forth, and Pressing

The mind is a funny thing. It seems to have its own, well, mind. It seems to have a keen desire to dwell on the past—either to lounge in nostalgia or shudder in regret and shame.

We will never be transformed into the image of the invisible Yahweh if we dwell on our past actions. As long as guilt, regret, and shame are the fruit of the garden of our minds, we will never bear the “much fruit” that Christ foresees for us.

That is why our Father has provided the way to put a finality to all sins, faults, and recriminations sourced from our old lives. This finality Christ has already done for us at the cross. When we acknowledge and believe that our old selfish nature died with Christ, then we are freed from all negativity and become new creatures in Him.

This is the preliminary step that triggers not only real spiritual growth, but also clarifies our minds today as we walk with Him. The cross experience is the end of our old adamic nature; it also is our beginning a new life when we believe that we are raised from the dead with Christ.

Remembering these things cleanses our mind. It is deliberately thinking on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy, “think on these things. Those things, which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me [Paul], do, and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9). It is thinking on His eternal purpose that will drive our mind’s thoughts out of the  garden of our mind.

This subject is the lifeforce of the apostle Paul’s being. In all humility, he knew that he was not “there” yet. He, therefore said, “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus [Yahshua]”. Forget the past and embrace the things to come in the future. That’s past and future.

What about the present? What do we do now? We keep on pressing; keep on growing spiritually through studying the apostles’ doctrine, through adding the seven attributes of the Spirit to our faith, and obeying Christ’s New Commandment to love like He loves. Doing all these is how we love Him. We must “cast our care on Him.” We do this by caring about what He cares about. It is all about Christ.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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June 14, 2023 · 3:59 pm

New Book: “The Additions to the Faith” Published Online

My new book, The Additions to the Faith, is published on this website. Here is the link: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/the-additions-to-the-faith/ You also may get there by clicking on the title of the book at the top of the home page of Immortality Road. I uploaded the first 20 chapters and will continue to do more chapters every few days.

I am very excited about this volume. It contains many revelations that assist the sons and daughters of God in their quest to grow into the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). It explores the mind of Christ operating in His apostles–Peter, Paul, and John. And Christ’s thoughts toward us yearn for us to become like Him. His promise to us is SPIRITUAL GROWTH! We just need to surrender to the Master Potter and let Him mold us in His way.

We grow spiritually when we add the seven attributes of God’s divine nature to the Son’s faith now residing in us. This book sheds light and plants seeds for your perfection/maturity. May The Additions to the Faith build you up into the fulness that Christ has for you.

Please stay in touch, for the days are evil. I long for all of you, my brothers and sisters, to share your testimonies with us. It is very edifying to hear how God is reaching the “7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

May that great invisible Spirit Yahweh breathe on you a blessing you cannot contain. May it spill over onto a thousand thirsty ears. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 26, 2023 · 8:43 am

True Freedom–The Redemption of Our Bodies

As I stare into the mirror, I see objectively—sans ego—a weathered face that has endured seventy-five summers and winters. I see a body that is betraying the Ghost that moves this pen. Each day, each hour, each minute, time seems to abrade my exterior with debilitating constancy.

The apostle warns us of this betrayal, this inevitable breakdown of the earthly body. Paul calls it a “bondage of corruption.” Not an ethical corruption of the spirit for us the elect, but an enslavement to a deteriorating earthen house. At present, it is as if we are existing in an adobe house that is melting down, back into the elemental clay.

Our bodies are betraying us. Not by accident, “but by reason of Him who has subjected the same [us, the creation] in hope.” God has ordained a certain amount of suffering for all of us to go through. Solomon wrote about it in Ecclesiastes. Living on earth is like chasing the wind. “All is vanity.” Every earthbound endeavor is unprofitable in the end because of one thing–death.

But God has subjected us to the sufferings of living on this planet in hope. Yes, hope. God’s great hope is that because of our sufferings of just being humans on earth, we will seek Him and find Him. And we will eventually “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8: 21).

The key word is “glorious.” We are attaining that state of glory that overcomes the betrayal of our earthly bodies and brings us to the liberty and freedom from having to die—released from death! We are talking about the defeat of death. For “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15: 26).

Nevertheless, as I stare into this mirror I am literally groaning in pain, as is the whole creation. We are all suffering—if not physically, then emotionally and spiritually. What we all must realize, however, is that as we are groaning, we are “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8: 23).

Redemption—not just of our soul and spirit, but our body, soul and spirit. This is the redemption that translates us from mortality to immortality. Our great Creator, Savior, and King has bought us out of the slavery to sin and its inevitable fruit, death. He has prepared for us a spiritual body, impervious to the ravages of time and the elements. He has granted us a body that sustains life forever and ever—an everlasting life in a never dying spiritual body.

It is a new spiritual body that we cannot see with our eyes right now. If we only look at the surface of things here on earth, we will miss it. Ironically, we are not to look “at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” like our new body. Our father of the faith Abraham looked for an  invisible city “whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).

That is why we are admonished, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3: 2). Above—think on things above. The Father is above (Eph. 4: 6). And much is said of our heavenly Father. Our Father, according to His own purpose, has called and chosen us because He foreknew us long before we came into these deteriorating earthen vessels. He knew us in our spiritual bodies. “He also did predestinate us to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8: 28-30). He gave us a destiny in Him before we came to the earth.

The apostle Paul says that we have an immortal spiritual body reserved in heaven that will at the “last trump” replace the old earthly body (II Cor. 5: 1-4). We have a great spiritual Father, who has promised us so much, but a question still arises: Who is our spiritual mother? Every son and daughter of God has a mother, “the mother of us all.”

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

wayneman5@hotmail.com

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